Pelops
Publié le 22/02/2012
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Greek Son of Dione and Tantalus;
brother of Niobe. He married Hippodameia and
became the father of Atreus and Thyestes.
Pelops's first appearance in mythology was an
unfortunate one. He was served up in a stew made
by his wicked father to test the gods. All the gods and
goddesses realized what was happening, except for
Demeter, who was distracted with grief from losing
her daughter, Persephone. Demeter ate a shoulder
of the infant, but it was later restored when the
gods brought the child back to life. The gods had to
remake the missing shoulder from ivory.
Though Pelops became the rich and successful
king of Pisa in Elis, he and his descendants were
forever followed by the dreadful curse of the charioteer
Myrtilus. Pelops's descendants were called the
Atreids after his son, Atreus.
Pelops and the Charioteer When Pelops, son
of the wicked Tantalus, grew up, he set off to look
for a kingdom of his own. On his way he met the
sea god, Poseidon, who befriended the youth and
presented him with a fine chariot and a marvelous
team of horses. These gifts led Pelops to challenge
Oenomaus, king of Pisa in Elis, in a chariot race.
King Oenomaus had a passion not only for
fine horses, but for his daughter, Hippodameia.
Whenever a suitor asked for his daughter's hand in
marriage, Oenomaus challenged him to a chariot
race, which the suitor invariably lost. The penalty for
losing the race was death. By the time Pelops arrived
on the scene, 13 suitors of Hippodameia had died.
Their heads were hung around the gates of the palace
of Oenomaus.
Pelops bribed the king's charioteer, Myrtilus,
asking him to loosen the wheels of Oenomaus's
chariot. (The king always drove his own chariot
in the competitions for his daughter's hand.) This
Myrtilus did, on the condition that Pelops would
allow him to spend one night with Hippodaemia,
whom he loved.
Pelops won the race, Oenomaus was killed, and
then Pelops killed Myrtilus. With his dying breath,
the charioteer cursed Pelops and all his descendants.
The curse took hold, for Myrtilus was the son of the
god Hermes, and the gods knew how to make curses
work. (See also Agamemnon and Menelaus, the
descendants of Atreus and grandchildren of Pelops.)